Sidney Breese

Sidney Breese (15 July 1800-27 June 1878) was a US Senator from Illinois (D) from 4 March 1843 to 3 March 1849, succeeding Richard M. Young and preceding James Shields.

Biography
Sidney Breese was born in Whitesboro, New York in 1800, and he moved to Illinois following his graduation from Union College in 1818. From 1820 to 1821, he served as Assistant Secretary of State of Illinois, and he went on to open his own law practice. In 1827, President John Quincy Adams appointed him US Attorney for the State of Illinois, and he served in that capacity until Andrew Jackson removed him from office in 1829. He served as a US Army lieutenant-colonel in the Black Hawk War, during which Robert Anderson and Zachary Taylor were under his command. He served in the state judiciary before serving in the US Senate from 1843 to 1849 as a Democrat, and he was interested in working for his state and its people, angering the Washington DC establishment, and ruling out a presidential bid. In 1845, he introduced legislation for the annexation of the Republic of Texas, and he supported the Mexican-American War which followed. He opposed the division of Oregon with the British, supported the 1846 tariffs, and oversaw the approval of the Illinois Central Railroad before leaving office. From 1850 to 1852, he served in the State House, and he served as a railroad company director and lawyer for decades, becoming a Democratic elder statesman; despite being pro-states' rights, he opposed secession during the American Civil War, and was affiliated with the Copperheads. He died in Pinckneyville in 1878.